Oxford Union Debate : Does Britain Owe Reparation ?
The recently conducted debate at the Oxford Union created quite a flutter, especially the argument put forward by former Minister of State for External Affairs Dr Shashi Tharoor and rightly so ,as it was loaded with meaningful facts stitched neatly with quirky one liners,"The sun never sets in the British empire , as even the gods doesn't trust the British in the dark" being my personal favourite.
A strong point put forth by the opposition speakers was the lack of quantifiable data to estimate the loss incurred if any by the colony , Dr Tharoor decimated this argument by citing the contribution of India in the two world wars , a smaller outline to paint the larger canvas.
In World War-I approximately 1.3 million soldier served in the British army and over 74,000 thousand lost their lives, apart from that 100 million poultry , 70 million round of ammunition , 6 Lakh rifles and 42 million garments were supplied by India.Thus financially speaking, the amount Britain owes India for World War-I alone is a staggering 2 Billion pound.The contribution of India in World War-II is surpasses World War-I ,around 2.3 million soldiers participated in the war out of which 89,000 lost their live, apart from supplies , quantitatively out of the 3 Billion pound Britain owes to the world , India share is 1.25 billion pound.Further , this was done at the time when famine had struck Bengal resulting in the death of millions due to starvation.Thus the claims of lack of quantifiable data can very well be put to rest.
One of the other argument put forth by the opposition speakers was Britain brought technological advancement to the colonized territory,Railways being a prominent example.This argument was also countered by Dr Tharoor saying colonization is not precedent to construction of railways and construction of railways served the British interest more than that of the colony, as it was primarily used as carrier of raw material to the ports , which were then sent to Britain to fuel its industrial growth.Further , native of the colony were treated as second class citizen in passenger trains , and were not allowed the same stature as their white masters.
He also ridiculed the claim put forth by one of the key speaker Richard Ottaway , that Britain already provides financial aid to India , he said that the amount provided by Britain as aid is 0.4% of India GDP , less that what is spent by Indian government on fertilizer subsidy.He also cut short Sir Richard Ottaway when he incorrectly suggested that some previously colonized state have recognized Queen as the head of state , which is completely inaccurate as Queen is the head of the Commonwealth of which India and other countries are members.
Among the other prominent speakers, were Ms Heena Dattani , who began with a sentimental account of oppression done by British in Kenya. Aloun Ndombet-Assamba questioned the beneficiaries of British infrastructure, one of the prime line of argument by Sir Richard Ottaway , premised on the fact that it failed to reach the entire population and was prominently concentrated to small pockets.
Ssuuna Golooba-Mutebi spoke about the rampant loot of artifacts by the British empire some of which adore the walls of British Museum to this day and Britain's reluctance to to return them to the respective nation.
It can be fairly concluded that it would be unfair to burden the present British taxpayers for things for which they are not directly responsible , however , Britain should acknowledge that it owes a moral debt to its former colonies and make amends like returning stolen artifacts like The Kohinoor to the respective countries as a gesture for its remorse.
Useful Links :
Dr Shashi Tharoor speech
How was India involved in the First World War?
Why the Indian soldiers of WW1 were forgotten ?
A strong point put forth by the opposition speakers was the lack of quantifiable data to estimate the loss incurred if any by the colony , Dr Tharoor decimated this argument by citing the contribution of India in the two world wars , a smaller outline to paint the larger canvas.
In World War-I approximately 1.3 million soldier served in the British army and over 74,000 thousand lost their lives, apart from that 100 million poultry , 70 million round of ammunition , 6 Lakh rifles and 42 million garments were supplied by India.Thus financially speaking, the amount Britain owes India for World War-I alone is a staggering 2 Billion pound.The contribution of India in World War-II is surpasses World War-I ,around 2.3 million soldiers participated in the war out of which 89,000 lost their live, apart from supplies , quantitatively out of the 3 Billion pound Britain owes to the world , India share is 1.25 billion pound.Further , this was done at the time when famine had struck Bengal resulting in the death of millions due to starvation.Thus the claims of lack of quantifiable data can very well be put to rest.
One of the other argument put forth by the opposition speakers was Britain brought technological advancement to the colonized territory,Railways being a prominent example.This argument was also countered by Dr Tharoor saying colonization is not precedent to construction of railways and construction of railways served the British interest more than that of the colony, as it was primarily used as carrier of raw material to the ports , which were then sent to Britain to fuel its industrial growth.Further , native of the colony were treated as second class citizen in passenger trains , and were not allowed the same stature as their white masters.
He also ridiculed the claim put forth by one of the key speaker Richard Ottaway , that Britain already provides financial aid to India , he said that the amount provided by Britain as aid is 0.4% of India GDP , less that what is spent by Indian government on fertilizer subsidy.He also cut short Sir Richard Ottaway when he incorrectly suggested that some previously colonized state have recognized Queen as the head of state , which is completely inaccurate as Queen is the head of the Commonwealth of which India and other countries are members.
Among the other prominent speakers, were Ms Heena Dattani , who began with a sentimental account of oppression done by British in Kenya. Aloun Ndombet-Assamba questioned the beneficiaries of British infrastructure, one of the prime line of argument by Sir Richard Ottaway , premised on the fact that it failed to reach the entire population and was prominently concentrated to small pockets.
Ssuuna Golooba-Mutebi spoke about the rampant loot of artifacts by the British empire some of which adore the walls of British Museum to this day and Britain's reluctance to to return them to the respective nation.
It can be fairly concluded that it would be unfair to burden the present British taxpayers for things for which they are not directly responsible , however , Britain should acknowledge that it owes a moral debt to its former colonies and make amends like returning stolen artifacts like The Kohinoor to the respective countries as a gesture for its remorse.
"Years of oppression can be repented with a little action and a five letter word."
Useful Links :
Dr Shashi Tharoor speech
How was India involved in the First World War?
Why the Indian soldiers of WW1 were forgotten ?
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